FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Earlier today an operation conducted by the DeKalb County Narcotics Unit, DeKalb County Investigators, the ALEA Aviation Unit, and the U.S. Marshall’s resulted in the capture of a federal fugitive.
The suspect had an outstanding warrant for a federal probation violation. On the night of Wednesday, August 12th, the same suspect led deputies on a chase that started when a deputy noticed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on County Road 446 near the Pleasant Hill area.
Today, federal agents teamed up with investigators, narcotics agents, and deputies of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office to finally locate the suspect in the Dutton Community in Jackson County. A Jackson County Narcotics Agent and the Henagar Police Department also assisted in the apprehension.
The suspect, Weston Lee Tidwell (35 of Rainsville) was taken into federal custody.
DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said of the apprehension: “This was a great job by our guys working closely with our federal partners! This suspect needed to be in custody before his flight from justice caused someone to get hurt.”
“It’s clear that if our federal partners need to apprehend a suspect in this area the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office will answer the call and help get them into custody. Our deputies, agents, and investigators are second-to-none at getting a job done,” he said.
“I’d also like to give a big thanks to the ALEA Aviation Unit, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and the local agencies that helped out. Without their assistance, we may have come up empty handed today,” Welden said.
“God Bless!” Concluded Sheriff Welden.
